"Unable to pay rent in L.A., I slept behind my desk. But what began as a quick financial fix soon became a lifestyle."

The pseudonymous Terry K. "secretly lived in my office for 500 days." (And by "my," he means the office provided by his employer.)

Living in the office had many unexpected perks. But it was far from a permanent solution. When the company started to show signs of budgetary collapse, I began to plan for my future. What did I want life to look like post-office?...

I had to read that last sentence 5 times before I understood it! I was like: What do I want my life to look like? Post office?!

Having spent over a year rent-free, I realized I valued how I spent my expenses differently. Dropping over a grand every month on a single budget item felt like it ought to result in overwhelming returns. Instead, the housing options were bland. Each had a laundry list of glaring flaws�aging units with no parking, thin walls with no outdoor space, poor walkability and a long commute. What�s more was the sense of entitlement on behalf of many landowners, like I was doing them a favor by handing over 40 percent of my income for a glorified doghouse. The transaction felt oddly imbalanced, a product of seriously misplaced supply and demand....

Ultimately, the company went under. I was part of the first round of layoffs. I lost my job and my home all in one, but I saved over $20,000 in living costs and 216 hours of commuting.

Terry K. now lives in a tiny house built on a truck... and blogs: here.

ADDED: I don't know how you can be a writer and write about this subject without mentioning "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street."

Artist whitewashes a crappy old motel, including the palm trees that surround it.

"As you walk the western edge of the trendy hamlet of Silver Lake on the city�s storied Sunset Boulevard...  you�ll see dozens of people standing precariously in the middle of four lanes of traffic to Instagram the piece, which is about as social-media ready as a public art piece could possibly be...."

Projection, as the work is named, could have been staged at any of the city�s derelict motels, really. But [Vincent] Lamouroux�who lived in the neighborhood years ago�had his eye on this one in particular. The Googie-style sign on top reads Sunset Pacific but everyone here calls it the Bates Motel, partly because it�s on the corner of Bates Street, but mostly because this moniker appropriately conveys its freaky Psycho vibes.

Vacant for over a decade, the motel�s ability to attract drug activity and gun violence has turned this stretch of Sunset into a kind of no-man�s land. During his days as a city councilman, LA�s mayor Eric Garcetti tried unsuccessfully to rehab it, sell it, then demolish it, calling it �one of the most troublesome properties in the city.�

No trees were hurt. They were sprayed with an impermanent "shading compound" that is intended to be used on trees. Not for art projects, but to protect them from heat and insects.

A very nice art work. I approve.